Paul was the one who saw the ad for a free antique display case on Craigslist… (He was looking to find another pool table, because I have more slate projects in mind.)

The guy getting rid of it was renovating a shop and needed it gone… and because I am a kind and generous person, I was able to help him with that!

I listed it on Craigslist as we drove home. It sold for $250.

Was I was a little bit tempted to hang on to it? Yes… I really liked the egg and dart around the upper edge. And it did sort of seem like something I might find a spot for it in the kitchen – I mean, it kind of holds stuff.

But the storage really isn’t great if you actually want to use it rather than just display stuff you never touch.

The doors are on the back, so accessing the shelving is tricky, unless I made the doors the front… but then the fancy molding wouldn’t show.

Anyway. These things show up all the time on Craigslist, so if at some point I decide I cannot live without one, I will be able to find similar.

I realize that these photos stink, but I took them to post it on Craigslist on the way home, and then sold it without remembering to take better pictures. You get the idea.

WWI, WWII, lots of characters, lots of subplots… None of the characters are deep or unpredictable, none of the historical/political events are explored in a way that will bring you enlightenment or intellectual stimulation… but the scope of her storytelling is impressive and fun; and she does a wonderful job of juggling it all, and moving along quickly.

It’s sort of like Downton Abbey meets a really good beach read… not Proust.

She has an overblown writing style that for some reason I find extremely appealing rather than annoying. (Yes. Correct. I, VEB: writer of overblown hyperbole, dislike this in other writers.)

The women are beautiful, the men are honorable, (except the dastardly one!)… it’s melodramatic, sweeping, glamorous, and filled with improbable situations like riding a bike through London while being bombed by the Nazis while also wearing Schiaparelli.

I think this is my third time through the whole series, and I’m to the third book… her storytelling does not flag; the third book still goes strong with new stories for the old characters.

This is an old BBC show, (first aired in the UK and was later broadcast in the United States on PBS)… It’s essentially a reality show of Downton Abbey – it uses real people who volunteered to re-create an Edwardian household for a month.

Paul bailed after the first few episodes because he found the family experiencing the “upstairs” lifestyle to be UNBEARABLE.

Especially “Lord”… he is so self-satisfied and smugly un-selfaware. Personally, I enjoyed hating him. And I suspect that BBC was delighted to have inadvertently found someone so willing to publicly display his asshat-ish-ness.

I actually liked “Lady.” Although I wondered how she could tolerate her husband.

Anyway. The show is somewhat dated, but if you like this sort of topic, I think you’ll enjoy it!

***SOAPBOX: HELP THE HOUSTON TIGERS.

A theme-restaurant in Houston has been “home” to four white Bengal tigers since 2005… These tigers are held indoors at all times.

According to ANYONE WITH A BRAIN, a theme restaurant is not an acceptable habitat for tigers.

WHAT WE CAN DO:

Sign the petitionasking Landry’s to transfer the tigers to a sanctuary accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, and ask the Association for Zoos and Aquariums to reevaluate the restaurant’s accreditation.

SHARE this information on social media! LOUDLY tell Landry’s that their treatment of animals is bizarre and grotesque.

Boycott Landry’s and their restaurants because so far their response has been THE OPPOSITE of common sense: they’ve decided to sue for defamation because saying you shouldn’t keep tigers in a restaurant is highly offensive to their delicate sensibilities.

If you’re not local, you can still follow their Facebook page and interact with their updates… Facebook limits how many people see a post that is not well-interacted with, so commenting and sharing their posts helps raise awareness, AND tells Facebook that this is valuable content that other people should see.

How can we help humans see these tigers NOT as an “attraction” but as an abomination to our fellow earthlings… these beings who share our beautiful planet and also call it home?

It’s not just these tigers… it’s circuses and roadside zoos, and the myriad ways that humans see other species as disposable: from dogfighting. To “the crush” which is how baby elephants are “trained” (that’s a Nat Geo link, and there are NO images, graphic or otherwise) so that we can use them as wildlife tourism.

From roasting, boiling, and skinning dogs alive at Yulin dogmeat festival. To the way the dairy industry IS the veal industry. To the egg industry’s practice of tossing male chicks into a grinder WHILE ALIVE (they have no use for boy babies in the egg-laying industry).

These all exist on the same spectrum: the assumption that non-human animal’s pain, fear, suffering, loneliness, hopelessness… is what? Inconsequential?

How are we able to turn off the natural empathy that we have for all living beings? How does this change our fundamental existence on earth?

We cannot distance ourselves from their suffering. WE, the people who SEE IT. We must be the ones to say loudly: THIS IS WRONG.

Every act of cruelty towards any creature is contrary to human dignity… We are not God. We must forcefully reject the notion that our being created in God’s image and given dominion over the Earth justifies absolute domination over other creatures — Pope Francis, second encyclical

Well! THAT was awesomely full of holiday cheer! I’m sure you really enjoyed it!

If you read all this way… xoxo times 10,000. Please enjoy this video of baby monkey pumpkin playing fetch with his stuffed hedgehog.

I did not “train” him to do this. The hedgehog fell off the bed one day and he brought it back, and apparently he really likes this game!

54 Comments

Thank you for the holiday accountability. I am committing right here to one day a week of vegan-only eating starting in 2017 (gotta start start slow when you don’t have many spoons!). Also, that is a fine little cat, with a delightfully avid way about him.

We have many, many stuffed hedgehogs in our house. From tiny little ones for my 13.5 lb dog to big ones which she can barely carry. We {heart} hedgehogs. (I am always tempted to leave the 2nd “e” out of hedghog, sort of like Wedgwood.)

Adorable cat!!! My cat (no longer with us) also used to play fetch and just loved it! For some reason he liked to play fetch with those thick, coated elastic hair bands. I would shoot one across the room, he would dash after it and bring it back and drop it at my feet. We could go on for hours. Such fun!

We have a cat, Romeo, that simply loves to play fetch. I discovered this in about the same way you did with your kitten. Romeo has a particular fondness for the mylar paper balls that come in multiple packs as cat toys. One day early on in his life with us I thought he might like to chase one so I picked it up and threw it. Not only did he chase it with wild abandon, batting it back and forth along the floor, but he picked it up and brought it back. Not really thinking about it, I picked up the little crinkly ball and threw it again. Back he came with it in his mouth and dropped it in my lap. Did I have a cat who played fetch like a dog? Oh boy did I. As it turns out, this amazing trick is not all it’s cracked up to be when the cat decides that mom needs to play fetch with him at 2am and lets you know this by crawling up on your chest while you sleep and dropping the mylar ball in your face…..repeatedly. After about 5 minutes of this kind of wee hours fun, I decided to put the ball in my bedside table drawer in order to get some sleep. Imagine my surprise to find that not only did my funny little cat play fetch, but he also knew how to open a drawer to retrieve his beloved mylar fetch ball. Romeo is 16 now and getting a bit feeble….but all you have to do is bring out a mylar ball and he’s right back to being a rowdy kitten again.

my cat “steals”my daughter’s stuffed lemur and carries it around in her mouth like a kitten…even tho she is spayed, she still goes into heat a couple of times a year and gets maternal with the plushie…and growls if you try and take it away. Love the display cabinet and have reposted the tiger article… i have family in Houston. they had better participate. Auntie Carol is checking up on you!! Merry Christmas VEB and a Happy and Prosperous New Year to you and your hubby.

My cat was 36 lbs (he had an un-diagnosed thyroid problem at the time) and we called him “The Swiffer Cat” because when he walked across the kitchen floor, his belly would “Swiffer” up the hair, crumbs, grasses as it swung back and forth. His idea of physical activity was to work his way over to the couch, settle in, then sprawl on his back with his legs sprawled out to the sides, pussy willows hanging out and all…

I have been Vegetarian for nearly 15 years and I cannot believe that I did not know about the connection between dairy and veal. Embarrassing since I have three kids and understand how lactation works, but I never even wondered what happened to the boy calves. Thank you for sharing this information with people like me! Love your blog!

Have you thought of backyard chickens? They are great pets, make great chicken manure for your backyard organic garden and trees and eat bugs that would eat your garden, and provide eggs!
There is no comparison to organic free range eggs from happy chickens.
Well treated free chickens go on laying for years, and they get on fine with cats and dogs once they all realize they are all in the same family.
Just three hens will give lots of eggs, they go on laying for years and years compared to ‘prison chickens’
and old hens will babysit chicks and teach new mothers and still eat bugs and make manure too.

Best way to stop the ‘Factory Farms’ of chicken abuse.
And think of the lovely Victorian Chicken House you could design.

Thank you for always being a voice for animals. I appreciate it as an integral part of your feline-loving, GFT acquiring, stylish Southern charm. You reach an audience that isn’t typically reached by the AR community. May the new year bring you joy and happiness behind your expectations.

I absolutely know-beyond a shadow of a doubt -that most of Humanity’s problems,including cruelty to Animals in general is due to the concentration and consolidation of all forms of profit.

Our human culture,originated with towns and villages where most items of utility or beauty were hand made and gave a sense of pride to the maker. Money looked at this system and saw the creator as a worker and the product as personal profit. The farmer of the past wouldn’t recognize farming and animal farming is filthy and sickening-animals jammed together in their own excrement, limbs broken why? to generate bigger profits.

The Bible does not say the root of all Evil is Money-it says the LOVE of money is the root of all Evil and a small population,now in total charge of American power ,billionaires all will make our Laws and regulate all of systems. The mind reels in fearful anticipation.

Today EVERYTHING has devolved into the corporate owned,managed profit machine and the bottom line is not the maker,not a sense of pride or accomplishment for everyone involved but simply profit,money-wealth, the bottom-and it is the bottom line is money for the already wildly wealthy.

I have nothing against the wealthy 0r wealth…there are millions of people who deserve a generous return for their contributions. I rail against those who are wealthy solely through the effort and brilliance of others. They are the leeches of society and should be publicly named as such.

Everything is too big and totally impersonal. A corporation may be a person…..? but it will never have a heart,a soul or Empathy. It worships Wealth, it lusts for dollars and when it gets them it hides them,in the darkness of tax havens where it’s green loveliness can never be reduced by any contribution to people or its country- it is the be all and end all of its intent its purpose and it has warped so much of our culture. Over sexulized,why does every model have her legs spread or resemble an anorexic heroin addict? Mad for stuff-non stop selling selling selling because who will love you if you lack the latest iphone? We need small shops,local manufacturing in smaller facilities-with local buyers and local employees. Stop making stuff all over the world with the resultant air and water pollution. People in China have to wear face masks and their children have a higher degree of asthma. Too much concentration of manufacturing in one area in huge factories. sorry to add another diatribe but Evil does triumph when the better voices are silent………?

If you ever want to discuss rescuing chickens and giving a few a good home I’m you’re girl 🙂 I have a tiny “farm” in my suburban back yard and most of my girls are rescues. I work with an AWESOME rescue here in California that will take any and all chickens that they can fit from egg-farmers who want to get rid of their ‘stock’. For a while I had two girls from the famous Turlock rescue. It breaks my heart to think of their living conditions for their first couple years of life but I gave them the best of the best for the rest of their life. Here’s a link to the documentary made about those girls:

Have you read anything by Wilkie Collins? I’m reading “the Moonstone” right now and it sounds very much like the type of book you would dig. Although it is an older novel (written in the 1870’s!), the language is simple and elegant rather than so flowery you get allergies.

I can’t follow you anymore. I so love your adventures with craigslist and house projects. However, while I agree with the problems with animals and animal products and pet rescue, the shock value you are using to get your point across is not for me. I have a vegan daughter who educated me on all treatment of animals without the pictures, etc. A decorating blog is not the place for this. I suggest you start a different blog for animal rights. Please no response required.

Pat, perhaps other readers of this glorious blog are not so fortunate as you to have a vegan daughter to educate them on the suffering of animals. A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say. It’s harder to ignore suffering when you see it with your own eyes, perhaps that is what makes you uncomfortable. There is no shock value in the pictures or videos – they’re just images of reality. The shock resides within ourselves when we bear witness to the horrors that exist in the world outside our own bubble. If you’re not strong enough to look cruelty in the face, so be it. We all have a limit to what we can bear. But do not chastise someone for championing a cause they believe in on their own blog. It’s akin to being a guest in someone’s house and asking them to stop ruining your good time. It’s bad form dear.

I, personally, have never thought of VEB’s blog as merely a decorating blog. She shares all aspects of her life and beliefs, and as stated by others, hers is the only blog I take the time to read, nay, actually search for new entries.

If you find it distasteful to see the terrible conditions living creatures are put through so that we humans can benefit, then, by all means, don’t read this blog. Just please don’t chastise or denigrate the author because you disagree with her means of educating the rest of us. I am grateful to VEB for doing the research, so I don’t have to.

so Jealous! There has been 1 really good GFT from CL in our new area since we moved here 2 years ago. 1. My hometown had so many treasures that I took for granted. So Many.

Our long narrow [19 x 11] dining room needs a built in along the windowless doorless wall. It will provide much needed storage, as well as visual interest. I could build something functional. but I want/need something amazing. I have looked for book cases, armoires, entertainment centers, console record players until my fingers blister. nothing that will do, suffice, or be makeoverable. Zero, zip, zilch, nada, ningun, niente, bupkes. You get the picture. We did, however, manage to find some cane backed chairs. so we finally have somewhere comfortable to sit.

My husband thinks we should just finish tiling. Tile the dining room before worrying about furnishings. Perhaps he has a point, but does he not remember how long I have been searching. without finding? does he not remember our budget? does he think the perfect thing will magically appear? A few more weeks and the tiny bedroom that we’re eventually turning into a dressing room will be done. I’m in no rush, because it is too small to use as the guest room and we’ve got people coming in February. and the office/guestroom will need to be decanted into the tiny room while it is being tiled. and only then will we get around to doing the dining room. and it is crucial that we manage to get a massive amount of storage into the dining room. Partially because our house is small, and has little storage. No attic, no basement. Not that we have a ton of stuff, but old tax returns and the like need to live somewhere. and partially because the kitchen is after that [so in a year if we’re lucky?] and if we have nowhere to put a temporary kitchen, the real one wont get done.